Baby chicks cute, but hazardous to kids’ health

Do the adorable baby chicks call your heart to take them home as you visit stores around Easter? Please think twice before acting on your impulse.

Public health officials warn parents and caregivers to keep children 10 and younger from handling fowl, such as chicks and ducklings, because they pose a significant health risk of salmonella.

Salmonella is a common cause of food-borne illness that can result in diarrhea, fever, vomiting and abdominal cramps. The illness can be spread to people by direct contact with animals that carry the bacteria.

Salmonella outbreaks from chicks and ducklings often occur during the spring as the demand rises for baby birds as gifts, and for backyard use to raise them for meat and eggs.

Live birds can carry salmonella germs on their bodies (feathers, beaks and feet), even when they appear healthy and clean. Children can be exposed to salmonella by holding, touching, kissing and cuddling the birds, or by playing where the bird lives or eats and not washing their hands immediately afterward.

Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated a salmonella outbreak in live poultry. Of the 356 ill people in 39 affected states, 95 percent reported purchasing live poultry from feed stores prior to their illness. Most cases were among children 10 or younger.

Steps after handling these birds — such as frequent, thorough hand washing and not eating or drinking in the area where the birds are kept, and not letting them inside the home — can help prevent illness.

Children 5 and younger are at a higher risk for illness because their immune systems are still developing — and they are more likely to put their hands and fingers in their mouths. Other individuals at high risk of severe illness include the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.